VietNamNet Bridge – With their stomachs gnawing with hunger, kids in Rach Gia Town in southern Kien Giang Province rake through a rubbish tip to earn a crust to eat. Catching diseases from the filth isn’t the only danger the kids face, as their abject poverty threatens more ominous perils like abuse and forced labour.

But a new school, funded by Vietnam’s Catalyst Foundation, aims to change that.

Under the plan, titled "Protecting children who work at the dumping ground from being smuggled for forced labour or the sex industry," the foundation opened a new school on November 11 with two classrooms, one library, two class teachers and one principal. Kids also get free uniforms.

Getting an education has brought hope to the villagers, 15-year-old Anh Xuan says.

"I hope I won’t have to go to collect trash at the rubbish dump any more. Studying will give me a chance to find a job and earn some proper money," she says.

The prospect of escape from the tip isn’t taken lightly by the locals who work there.

With the prospect of earning around a dollar a day, villagers have to work 21 hours a day, collecting dross like plastic bags and cans to sell for a few hundred dong.

For families struggling on the breadline, children also have to pitch in to the workload. About 100 village children work at the tip, usually in the evening when the dump trucks make their rubbish deliveries. One child can earn on average VND15,000-20,000 per night.

Among them is 11-year-old Xuan. Orphaned at the age of nine, Xuan had to give up school to earn his meagre living at the tip.

"I really want to start studying again but I still owe VND1mil. Sometimes I work until morning and then sleep until the next trucks come."

It’s kids like Xuan whom the project aims to help, as the school ensures that its pupils don’t give up their studies because of their hard lives, teacher Cam Giang says.

"At first, we combine teaching with other entertainment to make the kids feel at ease and motivate them to study more," she says.

Looking to the kids long term future, the project also aims to build an additional 120 rooms to house vocational training courses for villagers, Director of Catalyst in Vietnam Nguyen Cong Minh Bao says.

"We also offer credit for disadvantaged people to set up businesses, and teach them cultivation skills, discuss reproductive health, gender issues and the rights of children," Bao says.

Funded by Vietnamese-American couple Caroline and Ticarro Parker, Catalyst Foundation was first set up in Vietnam in 1999. The non-governmental organisation has provided many children with credit and scholarships to help them get back to school.

(Source: Viet Nam News)